maryland now. side streets a bit messy. main roads, not too bad. a similar scene awaits drivers in virginia. the farther south you go, the more snow you'll find. and plows have been on the roads in the district, as well. we're seeing a lot of streets that look untouched. so far, no major problems inside the district on those interior streets. good morning, everybody. welcome back to "news4 today." i'm aaron gilchrest. >> i'm eun yang. we have you covered on the roads all morning long. first, a long list of closings and delays to talk about. first, federal offices are open. employees do have the option for unscheduled leave or teleworker. the fairfax county -- telework. the fairfax county government is open with its unscheduled leave policy in place. >> as for the schools, fairfax, loudoun, alexandria city, manassas park city, and arlington counties in virginia are all on a two-hour delay now as are anne arundel, prince george's, montgomery, frederick, and carroll county schools in maryland. >> these county school system are closed today -- charles, calvert, st. mary's counties in

maryland, winchester city, culpeper, stafford, orange, spotsylvania, prince william, fauquier, rappahannock and king george counties in virginia, all of the school closings and delays are scrolling on the bottom of your screen. we'll bring you the latest as it comes into the newsroom. the cold could impact your commute on the metro. yesterday a rail cracked near the naylor road station. metro says something similar could happen again as cracked rail are fairly common with temperatures so low, especial oh above-ground portions of the track. unfortunately, they say there is no way to avoid that problem. take a peek outside. you might see snow-covered roads this morning. this was the scene in charles county as crews made their way into work. let's check the forecast first with meteorologist tom kierein. yeah, everything that was untreated froze right up. if the treat or road looks -- street or road looks wet, it's because they put salt on it. the road temperatures match the air temperatures, teens now. the heaviest snows were in a band from -- from rappahannock to southern maryland and the

lower part of the eastern shore. around the metro area, just lingering light snow falling in prince william, fairfax, loudoun, arlington, the district, prince george's, montgomery, howard counties. much of it is ending in much of southern maryland. this one last batch of light snow is going to be zipping off south and east over the next hour. then it will end. all these counties in purple had a dusting around the metro area north to as much as four inches parts of calvert, st. mary's county, southern charles county, and nearly four inches, as well, in some locations, isolated spots from southern fauquier county, stafford, culpeper, toward rappahannock county. that's where all the school systems are closed. looking at temperatures now, it's certainly very cold. it's only in the teens in prince george's county. much of montgomery county in the mid teens. much of arlington's near 20. in the upper teens in fidel castro county. and throughout the rest of the -- into fairfax county. and throughout the rest of the day, winds will pick up, gusting out of the northwest to 30 miles

per hour. highs will reach the upper 20s to near 30 by mid-afternoon. sunrise at 7:20. sunset, 5:21. snow will be swirling around. untreated surfaces will remain slick throughout the day. i'm back in ten minutes with another update. photograph traffic now with danella. starting on the rails, metro isn't reporting delays at this time. marc, a nine-minute delay. this is the brunswick train, 870. vre, fredericksburg line, this is train number 302 now. running behind 35 minutes because of a mechanical problem. the hov lanes seeing off to theholders lane on 395 -- the shoulder lane on 395, a vehicle spun out. use caution. we'll head to i-95 in virginia. northbound you are seeing delays as expected because still slick conditions earlier this morning around dale ci. saw multiple accidents. now they look to be out of the roadway. still want to urge you to give yourself extra time.

back to you. >> thank you very much. 6:03. if you look outside you might see snow-covered roads this morning. this was the scene in charles county as one of our crews made their way to work this morning. an update from maryland is coming up. and this morning, international concern grows over whether north korea is preparing for a nuclear test. the associated press reports that north korea is warning that it is ready to conduct a test as well as carry out more long-range missile launches. threatening to wage a "full-fledged confrontation" against the u.s. for what it calls continued hostility. the threats come just days after the u.n. condemned the country's rocket launch last month. the university of virginia's college at wise is back open this morning after report of a gunman on campus forced a lockdown. that rural campus is in southwestern virginia. police gave the all clear late last night. virginia state police say the student who reported seeing a gunman confessed it was a hoax. this morning, parents want answers after a third prince george's county high school student has been shot and killed this school year. over the weekend, 16-year-old

marcus antonio jones was shot and killed outside a birthday party. police held a public meeting last night at friendly senior high school in ft. washington where jones attended school. police say two fights broke out at the school tuesday. parents say they're concerned for their kids' safety. >> when they tell us they're threatened at school, it makes you -- it hurts. it hurts me to my heart. >> jones is the third student from prince george's county public schools killed by gun violence this school year. 17-year-old amber stanley was killed in her bedroom late august. and nearly a week later, 18-year-old marquel ross of shot on to see death on his way to school -- shot to death on his way to school. police have not made any arrests in the cases. 6:05. why someone lance armstrong has never met or talked to is suing him. we're waking up to snow for the first time in a long time. an update on the roads and when we could see more snow. and next, a baby who can bust a serious move. ♪

♪ [ multiple sounds making melodic tune ] ♪ [ male announcer ] at northrop grumman, every innovation, every solution, comes together for a single purpose -- to make the world a safer place. that's the value of performance. northrop grumman.

you are looking at live pictures now from the district right near union station. mass avenue there, looks like it's clear as traffic is moving at a smooth clip. that is not the case on some of the roads that might lead into that area. so you'll want to take some extra precautions as you head out. we'll check in on weather and traffic for you in a moment. right now, though, we want to go to maryland. megan mcgrath has been on the move all morning long keeping an eye on different conditions there. megan, where are you and what are you seeing? >> reporter: well, we have made our way to waldorf. we're along route 5. you see the conditions we have here, not too shabby. we're at the intersection with cedarville road. you see the roads have been well treated in this area. we have a lot of traffic.

the friction of the tires and the traffic interacting or allowing those chemicals to do their job. we have wet pavement in the area. there are issues with some of the exits, some of the turn lanes. we have noticed that they can be a little slushy. the main lanes themselves here on route 5 are in pretty good shape. especially in the inbound direction with all of the traffic that's been traveling and helping those chemicals along. still apparently seeing some issues with side streets. we have been seeing that all morning long. charles county schools are closed as a result of that issue. so give yourself a little extra time. i think you'll find, though, that when you make it to the main roads it's not too bad. reporting live in waldorf, megan mcgrath, news4, back to you aaron. >> thank you. all right. if you are about to head out and battle traffic, we want you to take a deep breath. here's something to help you get a little fun start to your morning -- >> always a good way. this may be the cutest version of "gangnam style" on the internet. ♪

>> how is that possible? >> you see his legs kicking up? go, baby, go. that is a 7-month-old doing the signature dance. the video was uploaded just six days ago. already it has nearly 830,000 hits. who knows, once he can walk, maybe he's got a future in dancing. performing something -- look at the legs go up. he doesn't fall over. >> he's got the hand exactly like it's -- so how that possible? >> some kids are just born with rhythm. >> seven months? >> born with rhythm. he's on beat, too. >> we know where he's going. good for him. >> very fun. it's 11 minutes after 6:00. we got a laugh in. now we need an idea of what to deal with outside. tom? >> don't try that on the sidewalk, you'll slip and fall. untreated surfaces are covered with snow now. we've got one more last batch here coming through northern virginia, out of maryland and heading south and east into southern maryland. that's going to lay down just a little bit of a light dusting on top of what has fallen.

in washington, lingering flurries as well as montgomery county. a patch of light snow in calvert, prince george's, arlington, fairfax, prince william. that's all heading south and east. it is cold. only in the teens all across northern virginia, maryland, the district. later today, only reaching upper 20s by later this afternoon. gusty winds. we'll have the winds blowing around 30 miles per hour. swirling that snow around. i'm getting more and more report from observers taking measurements. we'll get the snow totals to you in ten minutes. danella? good morning. good morning. checking on the accidents that i've been tracking this morning, the first one northbound i-95 at 32, the vehicle is still off of the roadway into a ditch. and you can see delays on i-95. it's to be expected. slick out. let's talk about prince george's county. 85th avenue. this is between 4:50 and eland street in new carrollton. two separate accidents in the area. please use caution. 395 southbound at 6th, three left lanes blocked there. checking on the hov lanes, still

seeing 395 at duke, the hov lanes crash in the shoulder lane. back to you. >> thank you. 6:12. 23 degrees. ahead, why the freezing temperatures are blamed for melting an ice rink in one of the coldest places in the country. plus, the announcement some women have waited 25 years for. and next, prince harry is back home in the u.k.

this is a live look out. river road at seven locks road in montgomery county. snowy, wet roads across the area at this hour. the wind blowing a bit. blowing some of the snow around. we'll have an update at 6:21. today we should get an update on the safety of boeing 787s. the national transportation safety board will discuss what led to a fire aboard one of boeing's dreamliners at boston logan airport back on january 7. the faa and several other countries decided to ground the planes last week. the safety of the planes has been called into question since several fires broke out over the last few weeks raising concern over the plane's batteries. prince harry is back on home

soil. the prince returned to england yesterday after a 4 1/2-mtonth tour of duty in afghanistan. he says he's excited to see his brother and sister-in-law but also says he feels like his life is no longer normal. in an interviewer after stepping off the plane, he said there is nothing normal about what's going on in afghanistan. the day he left a 7-year-old girl was killed by insurgents. today, john kerry will answer questions from the foreign relations committee after his nomination for secretary of state. most political analysts expect kerry to face friendly questioning today and have no trouble being confirmed. the fact is we have four dead american. was it because of a protest, or it was because of guys out for a walk one night who decided they would go kill some americans? what difference at this point does it make? >> obviously a very different scene for current secretary of state hillary clinton. during her testimony yesterday before the senate foreign relations committee, republicans

grilled her during that hearing on september's deadly attack on the u.s. consulate in benghazi, libya. clinton has accepted responsibility for the attack which killed four americans including u.s. ambassador to libya, chris stevens, that isn't enough, though, for some lawmakers. they accused her of innorring warnings from the ambassador and diplomats in libya that they needed tighter security. >> were you and the president made aware of the classified cable from chris stevens that said that the united states consulate in benghazi could not survive a sustained assault? numerous warning, including personally to me about the security were unanswered or unaddressed. >> republicans also accused clinton and the obama administration of misleading the american people about the attack after it happened. initial reports claimed it was the result of a protest gone awry. intelligence officers, though, say that they suspected it was the work of terrorists all along. 6:18.

this is an historic day for the military and for women's rights advocates. defense secretary leon panetta will announce the pentagon is lifting its ban on women in combat. the policy change will overturn a 1994 rule that banned women from being part of the combat units. it will open more than 200,000 combat positions to women. despite the combat ban, women in the military have still given their lives for their country. more than 150 women have been killed in iraq and afghanistan. and gay rights activists are making a new appeal to the white house. they want president obama to ban federal contractors from discriminating against gay employees. current federal law bans discrimination based on sex, race, and national origin but does not mention sexual orientation. the white house says the president is not ready it issue an executive order implementing the ban at this time. this morning, lance armstrong faces his first lawsuit since coming clean about doping his way to seven tour de france wins. two men are suing armstrong and his book publishers for false advertising. they say they bought his books

because they believed his story about a ride to victory, despite a near-fatal bout with testicular cancer. the lawsuit says armstrong and publishers penguin and randomhouse violated consumer protection laws by selling the books as nonfiction. the wizards fell to the utah jazz 92-88. the wizards trailed by as much as 22 points but came within two points with just minutes left in the game. it was too little, too late, though. they are now 9-31 on the season. they return home to face minnesota tomorrow. a fountain turning into an ice sculpture in new york city. take a look. this is in bryant park there. the water is still running and is quickly freezing. temperatures in the city have hit single digits at night. the wind is picking up. windchills tonight expected to be below zero in most areas. from one extreme to another, this indoor ice rink melted in crookston, minnesota, of all places. the fluid in the pipes use today

to keep the ice frozen froze. organizers had to cancel a hockey -- high school hockey game. crews fixed the problem, and the rink should be back up and running. >> they should probably play outside. with 16 below -- >> right. >> parts of minnesota, right? 6:2. time for weather & traffic on the 1s. tom kierein tracking the snow. good morning. the last of the snow now moving through the metro area. some of the heavier amount are to the south. now just getting a few lingering flurries in northern virginia, around the district, prince george's county, parts of montgomery county and loudoun. and a lot of the snow, most of it fell to our south. two to four inches in the dark blue zone. that was from southern maryland, parts of the northern neck. through north central virginia, through culpeper county, around rappahannock county, toward charlottesville. two to foush inches. a dusting to an inch in the metro area. temperatures in the teens to near 20 degrees. winds are not blowing too hard yet. they'll get gusty later this morning and during the afternoon as the sun breaks out later this

morning and during the afternoon. gusts of wind over 30 miles per hour will swirl the snow around. it has stuck to all untreated surfaces. the road's wet only because they salted. they could get snow tomorrow afternoon into tomorrow night. maybe about as much as we did with this one. all ending by midnight on friday night. sun back, still cold over the weekend. then warming up into next week. could get rain wednesday. i'm back in ten minutes. danella with traffic now. good morning. good morning. heads up if you're traveling lottford vista road near 50, just past 50. i have reports of several downed poles in the roadway. police have lottford vista blocked past 50 because of those downed poles. slippery out. let's head over northbound i-95. this is just past joplin. you see crash just blocking the left side of the roadway here. i-95 is just a very slow trip. it needs to be slow anyway. just use caution as you're driving. from stafford all the way to the beltway, you see here at lorton just a slow trip for you.

other than that accident that i just reported near triangle, not seeing any other accidents along i-95 in virginia. back to you both. >> thanks. 6:23 now. it is not the event he had hoped to attend this week. what brings mitt romney to the district. and next, who's to blame for a huge collision caught on camera?

[ telephone rings ] good evening, this is flo. [laughs] yes, i'm that flo. aren't you sweet!

licensed phone-ups available 24/7. call 1-800-progressive. in vermont, a truck ran through railroad signs and ran into a train. it ripped off the back part of the trailer. this happened in northern vermont tuesday. the crash happened dangerously close to a gas station. that could have made things much worse. amazingly, nobody got hurt. police did ticket the truck driver. a former republican presidential nominee, mitt romney, will make a rare appearance in d.c. tomorrow. he will attend a luncheon hosted by two of his major campaign fundraisers. philanthropist catherine reynolds and hotel magnates, bill marriott jr. romney has rejoined the marriott's board of director after leaving in 2011 to run for the white house. romney chose not to attend the inauguration on monday. the first nominee to do so since michael dukakis in 1989.

coming up on 6:27 now. ahead, the hopes that put a virginia college -- hoax that put a virginia college on lockdown. big plans with a big price tag. where metro is discussing possibly expanding. we're learning about a so-called catfishing incident involving the redskins. the warning the team sent to players. and snow lovers rejoice. drivers not so much.

welcome back. we have some winter weather to tell you about this morning. here's a live look in maryland. not too bad there. the main roads are clear. the side streets are hit or miss. an update ahead on weather & traffic on the 1s. federal offices are open this morning. employees do have the option for unscheduled leave or telework. the fairfax county government is also open with its unscheduled leave policy in place. as for the schools, fairfax, loudoun, arlington counties, as well as alexandria city, manassas city, and manassas park city in virginia are all on a two-hour delay as are anne arundel, prince george's, montgomery, frederick, and carroll county schools in maryland. these county school systems are closed today -- charles, calvert, st. mary's counties in maryland, and winchester city, culpeper, stafford, orange, spotsylvania, prince william, fauquier, frederick,

rappahannock, and king george counties in virginia. all of those schools are closed. the school closings and delays are running on the bottom of your screen. good morning, welcome back to "news4 today," i'm eun yang. let's check the forecast now. storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein with a look at what's happening outside. tom? the counties are that are closed are where they got the heaviest snow. you see the snow that did come through, it covered just about all of virginia, the district, maryland, parts of west virginia. it continues to move off to the south and east. a lot of the snow is tapering off and ending. just a few lingering areas of light snow in prince william county. fairfax, northern charles, parts of prince george's, calvert, st. charles, anne arundel. to the west, lingering flurries montgomery county into frederick and howard counties in maryland. these are the snow total. observers are just taking measurements. a dusting to an inch most of northern virginia, the district. much of maryland, the nearby suburbs around washington. however, this band here in dark blue is where they got two to four inches parts of southern

maryland, southern calvert county, and in st. mary's, southern charles. parts of the northern neck, then west of there, stafford, spotsylvania, culpeper, southern fauquier to rappahannock, two to four inches there. temperatures are cold. all that snow stuck to all untreated surfaces. if it looks wet, it's because it's been salted. your street, sidewalk, front steps treacherous. make sure you take care of that. it's sweepable snow, a dry snow. we're in the upper teens right now. most of the area. hour by hour throughout the day, we'll get sunshine breaking out. by 7:00, 8:00 this morning. temperatures near 20 by noon. mid 20s, lots of sun. a gusty wind will swirl that snow around. we could have that wind gusting to 30 miles per hour during the afternoon with lots of sunshine. highs only reaching upper 20s to near 30 by mid-afternoon. sunrise at 7:20. sunset at 5:21. i'm back with another update in ten minutes. danella with a look at traffic trouble. good morning. yeah, tracking several accidents in the area. first we'll start with the southeast/southwest freeway as

you're heading outbound. 6th street, you'll see two of your left lanes blocked by the crash there. we'll head over to 66. this is as you make your way westbound. you're going to see a car has just spun off, hit the guardrail here. eastbound, the shoulder lane, police are on the scene eastbound. expect delays. over to i-270, this is southbound. as you make your way past i-370. i did see in the center lane here there was an accident. it looks like that car's out of the roadway. it's just been a tricky commute. we'll head over to tony in prince william county. good morning, tony. >> reporter: danella, good morning. we'll get to the roads in a second. take a look at our shot now. look at the absolutely beautiful snowflakes falling here in prince william county. they just started falling about 10 or 15 minutes ago. they're starting to stick to the ground. as we've been saying all morning, it's the side roads and the parking lots that have been seeing a lot of the accumulation that has not been cleared. if you look here at this parking lot in front of some of the strip malls here in prince william county right off prince william parkway, you see the snow is still here. a lot of the plows haven't been through. but the good news is if you are

head out this morning, we'll look over at prince william parkway. take a look. it's clear. the salt's been down. they came through and plowed early this morning. traffic moving very nicely. it's been moving very well for the last i'd say 45 minutes to an hour. but as you've heard, prince william county schools are closed. this is one of the reasons. you can look at the sidewalk here. a lot of the sidewalks have not been hit. again, if you have kids in prince william county, those schools have been closed. again, guys, if you can see the snowflakes falling, they started 10 to 15 minutes ago, absolutely beautiful. if you are headed out this morning, plan your commute, use a little time. the roads still are slick. you've been hearing tom say all morning temperatures are still below freezing. there are still going to be some slick spots. for right now, that's the latest from prince william county. aaron, back to you. >> thank you. in our other headlines, d.c.'s police chief challenging the findings of a new report that says d.c. police mishandled hundreds of rape cases. chief kathy lanier says the information in that report by the human rights watch was gathered using flawed methods.

but news4 talked to one victim who tells us she was mistreated by police, and her case was mishandled after she says she was sexually assaulted. >> the detective right in front of me told the nurse that didn't need the exam done. and the nurse to her credit said that that was her job to determine, and that i would need to talk with her. and i did. the experience of being raped was absolutely humiliating. but it wasn't until i talked to police that i felt shamed. >> my fear is that this report because it is based largely on older data, incidents involving one or two detectives who are no longer in the unit, it's painting a picture that that's the current state of affairs here, and it's not. >> the report says in the past three years, the d.c. police department has failed to document more than 170 assault cases and failed to investigate 35 others. the man who attempted to assassinate president ronald reagan is expected in u.s. district court this morning. a judge will consider new recommendations from st.

elizabeth's hospital where john hinckly jr. has been since 1982 where he was found not guilty by reason of insanity. his lawyers have requested expanded visits with his mother for duration sas up to 24 days. prosecutors argue he is still a danger to the community. today vice president joe biden goes on line to answer questions about gun-control measures. he'll take questions on the live chat service google-plus hangout this afternoon. it's being called a fireside hangout. a name that harkens back to fireside chats on the radio. today he heads to richmond along with senator tim kaine to meet with state lawmakers about the proposed laws. it looks like a lot of american support the president's proposed gun control measures. a new gallup poll shows 91% support a requirement of background checks for all gun sales. in terms of spending, 82% support more funding for mental health programs. 79% more money for police and security. meanwhile, 60% support a

controversial ban on assault weapons. a virginia senate committee has voted down the latest attempt to close the so-called gun shop loophole. the measure won initial approval last week. two republicans withdrew their support. undercover video showed two lawmakers buying a weapon at a chantilly gun show without a background check which is not legal. the proposed bill would have required private vendors at gun shows to sell guns through licensed dealers so all buyers would be subject to checks. a judge has thrown out a lawsuit challenging maryland's gambling expansion. that lawsuit argued that question 7 required a majority of all of the state's registered voters to approve the referendum. not just a majority of those who actually voted. a judge rejected that idea. question 7 paves the way for vegas-style table games and 24-hour gambling at all maryland casinos. it also permits a sixth casino in the state at national harbor in prince george's county. 6:37 the time. 23 degrees. a local company reporting major losses into the billions. why they blame the government. plus, we are checking on the

condition across the area for you. slick roads the norm now. weather & traffic on the 1s. a major overhaul in the works. where metro is considering digging tunnels.

two new jersey men say subway is shortchanging them literally. they're suing the world's largest fast food chain. they claim the footlong subs are not a foot long. the lawyer says he's measured sandwiches from 17 subways. not a single one has been 12 inches. come on! these guys are seeking compensatory damages and a change in practices. subway has not responded. >> sometimes they might get squished in the bag. if that's an issue -- >> i don't want an 11 1/2-inch sub, i want a foot. >> okay. national airport, wow, snow on the tarmac. you should definitely check your airline if you're heading out today in case there are any delays or cancelations. we should let you know in case

you're wondering, d.c. schools opening on time, and also falls church city. we've had delays and closures, but there are some schools that are going to go as scheduled. >> let's check in with tom kierein now. >> only a half inch there at national airport. still just a few lingering flurries. weather & traffic on the 1s now. past 6:41 on this thursday morning. we've got the last area of some snow news4ing through the metro area, heading south. here's what's been happening overnight. quite a bit of snow fell in southern maryland. and in through north central virginia, a narrow band of heavier now is. it's tapering off to flurries. the area in dark blue they got an inch or two to up to four inches, st. mary's, southern charles, west of there into the blue ridge. but north of there and farther south of there, it's only a dusting to about an inch most areas. did stick because temperatures are only in the teens across the entire region to just near 20 degrees. so all untreated surfaces are snow covered this morning. and sun breaking out, a blustery wind later today with highs near

30. cold tonight. more snow tomorrow, the latest on that and a look at the weekend into next week in ten minutes. danella has a look at traffic now. good morning. good morning. a couple accidents to look out for, inbound leesburg pike, crashes blocking at least one of the lanes. inbound, chain bridge road, same deal. one lane is blocked by the accident in the area. an update, 66 as you head westbound, shoulder lane is blocked by the tractor-trailer. excuse me, the tow truck here to tow the car that spun off the roadway. 66 eastbound, a slow trip haymarket to the beltway. are you seeing congestion and delays. travel lanes are open. >> thank you. 6:43 now. growing ridership has metro thinking of building two new tunnels as part of its long-term plan. the "washington post" reports that the ten-year plan will be presented to the board today. it includes a proposal for a tunnel that runs underneath 10th street to thomas circle. that's pictured on the right. and a second tunnel under the potomac between rosalyn and georgetown seen on the left. leaders are also proposing some underground walkways to be built

between stations downtown so riders can transfer lines without waiting for a train. the plan calls for about $26 billion in funding over the next 30 years. and soon there will be only one way in and out of the pentagon station. metro was closing the south side entrance to replace three 18-year-old escalators. you will still be able to use the three on the north poseidon trans. work is -- north side entrance. work is expected into the fall. red light cameras keeping drivers safer in arlington according to a new study. researchers with the insurance institute for highway safety say the number of cars running red lights is way down in intersections that have cameras. they say the odds of a vehicle running a red light at least a half second after the light turned red were down 39% in the first year of ticketing. violations that happened at least a whole second after the light turned red were 48% less likely. and the odds of a violation happening a whole second and a half after the light changed

fell 86%. new this morning, police are trying to figure out who shot and killed a man in annapolis. they found the man suffering from an apparent gunshot wound in the 1900 block of copeland street last night. he was pronounced dead on the scene. police have not released any information on a suspect. a grandfather wants answers in his loved one's death in prince george's county. over the weekend, 16-year-old marcus antonio jones was shot and killed outside a birthday party. police held a public meeting last night at friendly senior high school in ft. washington where jones went to school. police say two fights broke out at the school on tuesday. jones' grandfather says his grandson feared something bad would happen. >> they can tell me all they want that they're doing something, but when marcus got shot at night walking out the door -- marcus didn't even go nowhere. >> some parents say they are worried about sending their children to school. three prince george's county high school students have been shot and killed this school year. all the cases remain unsolved. 6:45 now.

it turns out a report of a gunman at a virginia campus that forced a lockdown was actually a hoax. the university of virginia's college at wise is back open this morning. police gave the all clear last night. virginia state police say the student who reported seeing a gunman confessed she made up the story. a fire forced a family of nine out of their townhome in prince george's county. that fire broke out last night on empress way in bowie. chopper 4 flew over the scene. the fire burned all three floors. no one was hurt, though. a problem with the chimney or fireplace is thought to have caused the fire. we learned the names of a mother and child who died in a fire. this is cell phone video. neighbors tell news4 they heard an explosion and two brief screams. both victims were hearing impaired. the mother was a professor at gallaudet university. investigators are trying to figure out what caused the explosion and fire. this morning, north korea is drawing international concern after reports that the country

is preparing for a nuclear test. the associated press reports that north korea is warning that it's ready to conduct a test while also planning to carry out more long-term missile launches. they're reportedly threatening to wage a "full-fledged confrontation" again the u.s. for what it calls continued hostility. the threats come just days after the u.n. condemned the country's rocket launch last month. today we should get an update on the safety of boeing 787s. the national transportation safety board will discuss what led to a fire on board one of boeing's dreamliners at boston logan. that was on january 7. the faa and several other countries have decided to ground those planes. that happened last week. the safety of the planes has been called into question since several fires broke out over the last few weeks raising concerns about the planes' batteries. the battle over the debt limit may not play out until spring. the senate could vote as early as tomorrow on a bill that would let the government continue borrowing money through mid-may. the house passed the legislation

yesterday. it allows the government to borrow money without congress' approval. the treasury has warned the country could default on some loans as early as next month if the debt ceiling isn't lifted. 6:48 now. a local company reporting major losses. they say the reason is defense cuts. cnbc has more live. kayla, good morning. good morning, aaron. general dynamics, one of the nation's biggest federal contractors, reported a huge quarterly loss on wednesday, blaming it largely on defense cuts. the company which is based in falls church, virginia, posted a $2 billion fourth quarter loss on lower than expected sales as shrinking government orders and writedowns hammered the maker of weapon and aircraft. stock dropped as much as 5% in trading before recovering to close up about 1%. analyst attribute that to reassuring comments from the company ceo. the washington's dependence on government and defense contracts makes it vulnerable to the spending cuts put in place by president obama and congress between 2000 and 2010.

government procurement spending grew by double digits. last year it fell by more than 5%. back to you. >> thank you. redskins players are being warn good a woman claiming to be -- warned about a woman claiming to be something she's not. it's called catfishing and has been in the news because of manti te'o from notre dame. the woman uses the twitter name redridinghood. she used fake photos on line and has contacted several players. the players were picture of a porn star. a joint man who was also fooled by -- a germantown man who says he was fooled by the woman says he started communicating with her because she was a redskins fan. >> she told me she knew one guy on the 2009 roster. >> news4 spoke to phillip daniels, director of player development for the redskins. he said, "i think it was all about attention. it was just about being able to talk to players. it was never a situation where guys were giving money or anything like that." if you are just waking up and you haven't looked outside

yet, this is what you will see. winter weather everywhere today. fresh snow covering the ground. this is a live picture at the intersection of pennsylvania and 8th street in southeast d.c. we'll check in with storm team 4 meteorologist tom kierein in just a minute. first, we're getting a look at some great pictures from viewers who got varying amounts of snow. want to go to melissa mollet to see those. that's right, ask and you shall receive, right? we asked viewers to send in pictures and they did. thank you very much. let's look at this first one out of st. mary's county. looks beautiful. the snow bending branches. down south they got a good coating. another out of st. mary's, a couple of inches on the mini cooper hiding the car. . and st. mary's and hollywood, the viewer woke up to four inches of snow here. this pretty shot out of cobb island. snow still falling there. this shot pretty, reagan national in the instance. snowy and wet roads this

morning. this last shot stacking up on a viewer's deck makes you want to go inside and heat up some coffee this morning, guys. chilly outside. be careful when you driive. and kids ready to go out, make snowballs, snowmen, have fun. >> we'll check in with tom kierein. >> big difference on the amounts and where you live in washington. most areas got under an inch. but this was a photo just sent in to weather@nbcwashington.com. people waking up, take your photos. this is having fun, making snow angel on a deck in st. mary's county. that's where they got a lot of snow. there were four inch there. this is a picture of not that much snow, an inch or less in montgomery county. this was taken in montgomery village. post your snow pics to weather@nbcwashington.com. and we will share. right now, reagan national still getting a little light snow. 19 degrees. we got a windchill of about six because it's coming out of the north and east at about 15 miles per hour.

will shift to the northwest over the next couple of hours and get gustier. lingering snow south of washington. continuing to move into southern maryland. now charles county into prince william, northern stafford, still getting some of the snow. it's moving south, a few lingering flurries north and west. these are the amounts coming in. there was a band of heavy snow, an inch to four. maybe more in st. mary's southern charles. the narrow band in the darker blue stretching to the shenandoah valley. central part there. the rest of northern virginia, the district, most of maryland had a dust willing to -- dusting to an inch. temperatures are cold in prince george's county now. only the upper teens. montgomery county's mid teens. it's just in the mid to upper teens arlington and fairfax. the rest of virginia into west virginia. and going forward here, the rest of the day, we'll clear out, we'll get sunshine with a blustery wind. overnight tonight, we'll be clear. then clouds rapidly moving in. this is as of 7:00 tomorrow morning. tomorrow afternoon, all the areas you see in the lavender and white, those are the zone of snow that may move in late afternoon tomorrow and ending

friday night. so hour by hour throughout the day today, our temperature only gradually climbing. maybe reaching upper 20s mid-afternoon. the winds gusting to around 30 miles per hour. then back down to the low 20s by early evening. then the teens tomorrow morning. then that snow tomorrow afternoon into tomorrow night. sunshine back, still cold over the weekend. then warming up first part of next week. might get rain on wednesday. danella here now with traffic. good morning. an update on the crash leesburg pike as you approach the beltway. it was blocking one of your lanes. it's now out of the roadway. traveling the beltway, though, this time making the outer loop trip. this is at little river turnpike. you'll see a right lane and right shoulder lane blocked by an accident in the area. we'll check again on 66. that earlier car westbound 66 at fairfax county parkway was in the ditch here. it's out of the road. you see loaded up on the tow truck ready to get its way safely out of the roadway. i-270 looks better as far as visibility, as far as the road. it's clear as you make your way between germantown and the

beltway. eun? >> all right. thank you very much. 6:53. the bitter cold could impact your trip on metro. a rail crack caused major delays. metro says cracked rails are not uncommon with temperatures as low as they are, especially on above-ground portions of the track. they say there is no way to avoid them. from a dusting to over an inch, much of the area covered in a thin blanket of snow this morning. this is video from gaithersburg where you can see it coated the ground and a driveway there. there are areas waking up to the most snow this morning. ey are south and east of the city. we have a look at conditions now in the woodbridge area there in prince william county. >> reporter: good morning. they're getting better. look at prince william county parkway in -- prince william parkway in prince william county. it's than bad. it is wet. they did treat it about two hours ago. we saw plows come through. as you take a live look at traffic, you see traffic moving quite well.

if you're headed out this morning and planning on taking prince william parkway, it is not that bad. but as you guys have been saying here in prince william county, schools are closed. kids, you have a school day. so i expect to see a bunch of these snow angels this morning. get out, enjoy the snow, enjoy your snow day. that's one of the reasons why prince william county is closed. you see a lot of the sidewalks have not been hit. as well, looking at the side streets and parking lots here, you see they have not been plowed or salted either. so that's another one of the big problems. i actually talked to a gentleman a couple of minutes ago. here's what he told me about driving here this morning. >> driving inside the voodoo really bad, slippery. you cannot drive more than 10 or 15 miles per hour. that's a problem now. and there's no truck, nothing right now. no salt trucks. i didn't see any trucks. >> reporter: so if you are headed out this morning, realize that here in prince william county at least the plows have not really had a chance to get into the neighborhoods and hit those side streets and all those little businesses. so just if you have to head out, make sure you put a little bit of time. if you make it to the main

surface streets and the main roads, you should be okay. not a lot of delays at least heading down through prince william parkway here in prince william county. that's the latest. guys, we'll send it back to you. >> tony, that is the saddest snow angel i've ever seen in my life. i don't know what you were trying to make happen there. >> i like it, tony! i think it's a good snow angel with the amount of snow you have. >> we're happy you finally bought a hat, though. good news there. >> yes. thanks. all right. want to get a last look at the forecast with tom. >> i saw where tony was, lingering flurries. storm team 4 radar showing that the last of the snow is tapering way off now. just a few lingering flurries. and it's going to continue to taper off. it will end here over the next hour. we'll get sunshine back with a blustery wind later today. highs in the 20s. then tomorrow, up near 30. more snow likely late afternoon tomorrow into friday night. a cold wind -- a winter weekend coming up. feeling like wintertime. danella, how's traffic? >> as you can imagine, slow around the area. here's a live look at i-95

northbound in virginia at route 1. so what's happening is out of stafford, are you jammed. it's to be expected. it's slippery out there. we'll take you over an hour and a half to get from quantico to the beltway. i -- i just urge you give yourself extra time. aaron and eun? >> all right. a busy morning for you. thanks. and that is "news4 today." thank you for starting your day with us. >> the "today" show is next. we'll be back in 25 minutes with weather, traffic, and breaking news.

(woman) 3 days of walking to give a break cancer survivor a lifetime-- that's definitely a fair trade. it was such a beautiful experience.

(jessica lee) ♪ and it's beautiful (woman) why walk 60 miles in the boldest breast cancer event in history? because your efforts help komen serve millions of women and men facing breast cancer every year. visit the3day.org to register or to request more information today. it was 3 days of pure joy. ♪ and it's beautiful